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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
Absolutely fantastic! I agree with every sentiment. I started this travelogue/bookish bio/love story early this afternoon and read it straight through, stopping only to feed my family dinner. It's hard to put into words the way Quindlen captured the feel of visiting places in England for the first time, but I think this quote says it best:
"Hyde Park, Green Park, Soho, and Kensington: I had been to them all in my imagination before ever setting foot in England. So that by the time I actually visited London in 1995 for the first time, it felt less like an introduction and more like a homecoming."
That's exactly how I felt when first visiting England in 2013. It was brand new yet very familiar and my feeling of homesickness has led me back three more times since. In fact, one of the most difficult things for me about the COVID restrictions the last 18 months is the fact that I can't freely travel back to this place that occupies such an enormous part of my emotions.
I appreciated how the author had avoided visiting London until her mid 40s, lest she find it disappointing and not what her mind had painted it up to be. She, of course, was pleasantly relieved to find that it was all she thought it would be and more. "When I turn the corner into a small, quiet, leafy square, am I really seeing it fresh, or am I both looking and remembering?" Yes. Exactly. This is one of the few "American in England" memoirs I've read in which the author seems to appreciate the realness of the experience and to separate out the fantasy to see England in its truth.
Additionally, I loved the analogy of all the "Londons" throughout history being piled atop one another like layers of earth. The history doesn't ever really disappear from this ancient city upon an ancient island---it just builds and morphs and adds to itself with each new era.
If I find any fault with the book, it's with the negligence of the editor. Quindlen overuses words like "chockablock" and "chuffed"---after discussing how she can't help but use British English in her writing. Their overuse, coupled with the fact that she doesn't start this until the second half of the book, shows that she probably doesn't actually use these words as often as she claims. She definitely adopts a different voice about half way, as well, leading me to believe she wrote part of the book and then put it away for quite awhile before pulling it out to finish. Oh, and I did get a little weirded out when she began talking about Freud in the context of her relationship with her teenage son... All this can be forgiven, however; it's truly an enjoyable read.
"Hyde Park, Green Park, Soho, and Kensington: I had been to them all in my imagination before ever setting foot in England. So that by the time I actually visited London in 1995 for the first time, it felt less like an introduction and more like a homecoming."
That's exactly how I felt when first visiting England in 2013. It was brand new yet very familiar and my feeling of homesickness has led me back three more times since. In fact, one of the most difficult things for me about the COVID restrictions the last 18 months is the fact that I can't freely travel back to this place that occupies such an enormous part of my emotions.
I appreciated how the author had avoided visiting London until her mid 40s, lest she find it disappointing and not what her mind had painted it up to be. She, of course, was pleasantly relieved to find that it was all she thought it would be and more. "When I turn the corner into a small, quiet, leafy square, am I really seeing it fresh, or am I both looking and remembering?" Yes. Exactly. This is one of the few "American in England" memoirs I've read in which the author seems to appreciate the realness of the experience and to separate out the fantasy to see England in its truth.
Additionally, I loved the analogy of all the "Londons" throughout history being piled atop one another like layers of earth. The history doesn't ever really disappear from this ancient city upon an ancient island---it just builds and morphs and adds to itself with each new era.
If I find any fault with the book, it's with the negligence of the editor. Quindlen overuses words like "chockablock" and "chuffed"---after discussing how she can't help but use British English in her writing. Their overuse, coupled with the fact that she doesn't start this until the second half of the book, shows that she probably doesn't actually use these words as often as she claims. She definitely adopts a different voice about half way, as well, leading me to believe she wrote part of the book and then put it away for quite awhile before pulling it out to finish. Oh, and I did get a little weirded out when she began talking about Freud in the context of her relationship with her teenage son... All this can be forgiven, however; it's truly an enjoyable read.
I enjoyed this, especially because I was just home from my own trip to London. The author mentions and even quotes lots of my favorite books set in London, but the book seems to have no organizing principle. Occasionally she'd talk about one writer or one neighborhood for a few pages, or the dramatic rebuilding of London after the war, but not consistently. She wanders cheerfully from topic to topic.
I kept thinking of all the children's books I've read that were set in London!
I kept thinking of all the children's books I've read that were set in London!
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
Second read. Enjoyable, felt dated this time around. Informative and interesting premise for memoir/history
Getting ready for my trip in a couple of weeks to London, I put a couple of guidebooks on hold from the library. The most pleasant surprise was this slim book by Anna Quindlen. She perfectly captures the allure of a city that you have read about in countless books; how it feels familiar and still new. A gorgeous writer, this book manages to be bother personal and yet sort of elusively informative. London was a city that never disappointed the author, and as she talks about some of the literary landmarks that shaped her knowledge of the city, it got me very excited for my own trip. Although I may not visit 221B Baker Street on this visit (a terrible tourist trap, apparently), I will definitely be brushing up on my Dickens and Waugh before leave.
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
fast-paced
challenging
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
This book hit the spot for me. I like Anna Quindlen, I am an Anglophile and an avid reader, and I like books about travel and memoirs. This checked all of those boxes. I noticed that some people I know who have also read it found it a bit too frothy or lacking in substance, but I wasn't looking for substance. My main complaint about the book is that it should have a list in the back of the authors and books she references, because there are so many, some of which I have always meant to read and some I have never heard of before.
I was instantly smitten, though, when the first writer she discussed was Patricia Wentworth and she mentioned Miss Maud Silver, as I love that series and so few people today seem to be familiar with it. Several beloved detective novels and series are referenced throughout, including Sherlock Holmes (of course) and P.D. James, but also Anne Perry and Martha Grimes. And she quotes the snippet from A Christmas Carol which forever cemented my love of Dickens, the description of Scrooge's house as having gotten lost in a back alleyway while playing hide and seek.
I have spent insufficient time in London (just a few hours actually) and I have long suspected that if I lived the rest of my life there I would still say that. This book has confirmed that notion, and has helped me to grasp that it is as much the London of the literary imagination which I have revelled in all my life as the actual London which calls to me and which I cannot completely commune with because of the limitations of mortality.
I was instantly smitten, though, when the first writer she discussed was Patricia Wentworth and she mentioned Miss Maud Silver, as I love that series and so few people today seem to be familiar with it. Several beloved detective novels and series are referenced throughout, including Sherlock Holmes (of course) and P.D. James, but also Anne Perry and Martha Grimes. And she quotes the snippet from A Christmas Carol which forever cemented my love of Dickens, the description of Scrooge's house as having gotten lost in a back alleyway while playing hide and seek.
I have spent insufficient time in London (just a few hours actually) and I have long suspected that if I lived the rest of my life there I would still say that. This book has confirmed that notion, and has helped me to grasp that it is as much the London of the literary imagination which I have revelled in all my life as the actual London which calls to me and which I cannot completely commune with because of the limitations of mortality.
Lovely book. I felt as though Quindlen was writing about my childhood experiences of my own imagined London.